Mayor Ron Littlefield Urges Consolidation, Planning For Growth

Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield issued a challenge Wednesday for people to think about what the city and region will be like ten years from now.

Mayor Littlefield met with business leaders from Collegedale and Ooltewah, by far the fastest growing area of Hamilton County. It's also where Chattanooga is expected to expand it's boundaries according to a state mandated growth plan.

The explosive growth in the Ooltewah-Collegedale area continues as more homes are being built here than anywhere else in the region. I-75 just got a major expansion and new interchange with state Highway 11. So new hotels, grocery stores and businesses are riding a wave that keeps getting bigger.

"The wave of development out here is going to be unlike anything you have seen anywhere else in the state because of the confluences of development forces that are taking place in the area," Mayor Littlefield said.

Mayor Littlefield shared his thoughts on planning for the growth with the Chamber of Commerce's Collegedale-Ooltewah branch. He was expected to talk about annexation, a sore subject for people who live in these parts of Hamilton County. But he focused his thoughts on building the infrastructure - like roads - now instead of later when they will cost more.

The mayor also talked about consolidating city and county services like parks, sewer and public safety to save money.

But Ooltewah resident Joe Fusco, sitting in the audience, said "he basically sugar coated a concept of annexation by couching it as growth."

For some anti-annexation advocates like Fusco the mayor's comments are a tough sell.

Mayor Littlefield did not want to get into a war of words but he did come short of advocating a metro form of government, because he said something has to change in order to handle the explosive growth.

"I believe that [county] Mayor Ramsey, the County Commissioners and the City Council can find ways to provide joint services, and if that leads to joining of governments that's fine," Mayor Littlefield said.

Most civic and business leaders at the gathering agreed with Mayor Littlefield's thinking.

Joshua Michalski of Southern Adventist University said "I think if we can consolidate some of the public services as much as possible we can cut costs and cut taxes."

"I'm not for annexation as much as I am for metro government," Henry Tipton, owner of Henry Tipton Construction said. "When you say metro you're talking about change and I think people are scared of the word change right now."

Mayor Littlefield said Friday's opening of exit 9 on I-75, Volkswagen Drive, is the latest example of how the area is changing. The exit is part of a new four-lane road connecting a soon-to-be widened Apison Pike with Highway 58 in Harrison. The mayor said that will bring sweeping changes to the way land is used in the Collegedale-Ooltewah area.